HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAah

that cannot be the direct quote can it?

"I ain't got no knowledge of spelling and writing, but the Lord gave me a good memory,"

OMG that is a classic line.

What excuse could you possibly have for not learning to read in this country? I would love to hear it.
So, by him saying "ain't got no" does that mean he does have knowledge?

This is just all kinds of sad on so many different levels.

I'll insert the redneck comment about them "ain't bein' able ter read"... but wouldn't you think it would be in their own best interest by knowing what the interest rate was?

Even providing the fact that they thought the initial application wasn't a binding agreement, they began making payments on the loan so I'm assuming they agreed it was a binding agreement eventually. They should have been able to see the interest rate on their statement, provided they had one.

@Skankingmike: Man, do you have to work at being such a jerk, or does it just come naturally?

Inhuman. Has our society fallen this far,this fast ?
These people are clearly not sophisticated borrowers,but this is just not right.I hope that they win their lawsuit. I just WISH that I could be on the jury.

All of you "free market" trolls,I just want to ask you one thing- how is predatory business any better than the "BIG GOVERNMENT" that you claim to hate so much ?

Me, I just despise both.

@Skankingmike: Did you notice the part about them being from Tennessee? Still can't believe it?

Is this a joke? Dear God, let this be a joke. They can't read?

I guess it's a real eye-opener, because there is a significant population of the country who can't read or spell, and it's not because of dyslexia or learning disabilities, it's just because they never learned properly. It's really tragic, especially because the majority of people are blazing forward with technology, and are acutely aware of how technology is leaving others far, far behind - and frankly, the majority of us don't care about those who are being left behind. I'm not talking about the people who are still on dial-up, I'm talking about these people who haven't learned to read.

I was going to go the insensitive route and say these people got what they deserved, their stupid, etc. etc. But then it turns out they can't even read, so yeah...I hope they can work something out.

They can't read or use a computer, but they do know how to sue somebody. God bless America!

@cwlodarczyk: I do believe the Lord may have blessed him with that ability.

Yeah...that stuff about our schools sucking? THEY. WEREN'T. JOKING.

@Skankingmike: "What excuse could you possibly have for not learning to read in this country? I would love to hear it."

Fear of failure and lacking the ability to learn effectively. I have several relatives with extremely low IQs who barely learned to read above a 3rd grade level because 1) they dropped out, 2) they're just not very smart, and 3) they fear failure so much that they won't try to learn again.

Welp, maybee this dar friend that could do the redin and writn could of told um what the rate dar waz?

"Hey, can y'all send me sum moneh? What? What's "intrust?" Yeah, I trust yeh. How much? Well, I had to put down meh best milkin cow, and mah truck dun gone an busted it's tranmissin, so whutever y'all think is a fair amount fer the cow and truck fixin".

@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: I bet the good memory part is true. If you can't write anything down as reminder, you would be forced to develop good memory skills to compensate. Sort of like blind people learning to listen and feel more carefully than the sighted.

@h3llc4t: Exactly. Especially in rural populations, education is largely dependent on the parents. If the parents aren't educated on the most basic levels, how are they to pass along the education properly? I'm sure there are rural areas in which there's one or two schools for a huge county of people, and kids have to be shuttled for 20 miles just to get to school.

Well, either they can't read or they're lying about it (lord help anybody who misspells or uses bad grammar in this comment thread...). How come there isn't a cap on lending interest across the entire country?

Also, exatly what kind of "moderate addition" can someone expect to make on their home for only $2000? (the original targetted principal of the loan). I'm curious.

First of all, people have learning disabilities. Its a fact of life, and one reason to have laws against this sort of predatory lending is to protect people like this.

There is no reason a company needs to make 59% interest and no difference between this and mafia loan sharks.

@mariospants: and of course, I spelled "exactly" wrong. Dagnabit.

@cwlodarczyk: why am I jerk? I'm supose to feel bad that people that live in a country that GIVES EDUCATION FOR FREE!!!!!! Cannot read?

Please i feel nothing for these people. Unless you are an immigrant who came here after the age of 16-17 I care not of your inability to read. That's just pure stupidity and laziness (unless you have some sorta mental retardation).

@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: Tennessee is not that bad.

@katstermonster: I don't always blame the school. you know Parents do have some sort of obligation to their children, should not literacy be apart of child welfare?

Okay, I knew the vitriol would come out, but this is just sad. People, why do you have to be such jerks? They can't read - obviously that's a problem, obviously that makes the story extremely sad. But picking on people who are less-educated is just really mean. There was no way around this - they did everything wrong, the first thing being that they were so gullible. But that doesn't mean that they weren't the victims anyway.

They can't read, but they were able to buy a home? ...what? ...how?!

So, waitasecond, this couple got a nephew to circumvent the fact they are supposed to perform the entire internet entry process themselves (you know, so they could know the loan was particularly expensive), and somehow the lender is responsible for this?

Uh, no...

Now, if the loan is illegal in this state, sure, that's a different matter. But being an adult who is unable to read (but able to write with poor spelling?! what the hell?) but without other mental handicaps means you are intelligent enough to ask how much a loan costs of the person filling the forms out for you. Why he chose not to do this is beyond me (and should be beyond anyone else, too!)

@Skankingmike:

I have to agree with you. Public education in this country is free, it's paid for by property owners. All you have to do is show up to learn. Illiterate in America in 2009? The foreigners that migrate to America speak better English.

At least the Lord is helping them to remember to make their payments on time.

@docrice: They [aren't educated] or [able to use a commodity that is still a luxury], but they know [where to go if they believe they or their rights were violated]. God bless America!

@Skankingmike: No no. Of course not. :)
I'm sure what you meant to say is "Tennessee is not THAT bad."

As horrible as this story is and as pro-consumer as this site is, I don't feel any compassion for these people. You don't have to know how to read and write to realize you are getting screwed. Even if they were told it was a 59% interest rate, they likely wouldn't even know what that means. Sometime, the line has got to be drawn and personal responsibility has to be put into place.

@pecan 3.14159265: Seconded. They still got screwed, regardless. It sounds like they're functionally illiterate-they knew how to call a phone number but not how to fill out forms for a loan.

This would still be stupid and ridiculous and just flat wrong regardless of if the couple had eight doctorates between them. `

I think i@1stMarDiv:

I think the TN school system needs to focus on other things besides fighting Evolution and putting intelligent design into the curriculum.

@TWinter: It may well be, but that doesn't change the unfortunate truth that the only information you can trust from a company in this country must be written down, and properly recorded. Anything a CSR tells you appears to not be binding, although I'm not 100% sure what happens if you have an adequately documented recording.

@dmuth: You're clearly not familiar with the income potential of worm farming.

@docrice: Because even in America the illiterate have rights. Imagine that!

I think a 59% interest rate is completely acceptable, so long as the borrower agrees to it. However, this situation doesn't seem to present such a case. FIrst, I'm not sure that a valid contract was ever even created. Arguably there was never a meeting of the minds, which is necessary for a contract to be formed. They clearly knew they were borrowing some money, but given that the interest rate (allegedly) wasn't disclosed, which is a key element of such a contract, and that they actually sent more money than was requested, I think their lawyer could make a reasonably argument that there was never a meeting of the minds, thus no valid contract. It does get a little more problematic when put the fact they've been making payments into the calculus, but I still think they stand a fair chance of being able to get out of the $15k in interest. The lender may have a claim for unjust enrichment, which doesn't require a valid contract, which may require the borrowers to pay some interest, but not the 59% that they (allegedly) didn't agree to.

@mariospants: They live in a small home to begin with, so $2,000 might mean a really small room that's enough for one person.

I can't seem to register for an anonymous account, so let me just go on record through my Facebook.

The amount of contempt you people are showing to rural poor--and by the way, Appalachia is probably the poorest part of the country, particularly the eastern Tennessee hill country--makes me sick.

I've read a lot of things on this site that honk me off, but this stuff is revolting.

I live in Nashville - supposedly the highlight of the Volunteer state. And while we have a good bit of culture, and the city as a whole is well educated, you would be surprised at the people like this you run into.

I met one guy that spoke like that, said he could not read well, but lived in a million dollar home and sent his two kids to BGA.

Between this story and the guy about to lose his house over the dog I'm feeling particularly stabby.

"I ain't got no knowledge of spelling and writing, but the Lord gave me a good memory," says Kay Brown. "And I know they never said anything about 59 percent interest."

Ummm, even if they DID tell you it was 59% interest, would this couple be able to calculate that?

They can't read, write, or use a computer, but THEY can formulate APR?

@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: Oh wow, a "Southern people are uneducated" joke. How not over-used and stereotypical.

@pecan 3.14159265: There's a huge population in the country who, technically speaking, can read, but certainly not at a functional adult level of literacy.

I used to work for a scammeriffic jackass company purporting to increase grades (think like a Sylvan), and it was absolutely heartbreaking how many kids in the 16-19 range and even how many full-time-employed adults came in and couldn't score any better than the 3rd or 4th grade level on reading and phonics comprehension. I actually had to go have a good cry in the bathroom one day after patiently working with a 15-year-old (raised in an English-speaking home!) who couldn't make it through the "what sound does this letter make" phonics test.

And unless Long Island and New Jersey are suddenly redefined, this definitely wasn't in rural backwaters.

@mbz32190: There's also an element of gullibility and naivete to this, I'm afraid. It takes a lot for some people to be cynical enough to develop the common sense that everyone is out to get you in some way. These people obviously aren't the kind of people who understand the hazards that are in the world. I recall a conversation I had with my mother about 10 years ago when the first computer we owned had a virus on it. I, being about 14 at the time, explained what a virus was and how it came to be on the computer, and that someone had created it to harm computers. Her response was "why would someone want to hurt others like that?" which sums up the naivete and the innocence that some people still possess. My mother is much more world weary now and fully understands scams and such, but 10 years ago, she didn't get it.

This was just a perfect storm of bad circumstances - gullible people without basic education, "help" (the nephew) that wasn't really helpful, and lack of understanding on what exactly happened to them. All they seem to get is that "it's wrong" and haven't grasped that crap like this happens every day, and that the world is not an idealistic, nurturing place.

Fool, money, etc. If it wasn't CashCall it would have been Prince Zuboto of the Kingdom of Nigeria. It sucks that this happened to them but the fact that they didn't even try to find out the loan terms leaves me with very little sympathy.

@nbs2: The fact remains that every American citizen has the right to go to a public school and learn to read, at no cost. So they can't use a computer, maybe not a big deal, but I think it's interesting that people with what is likely a very limited knowledge of our way of life still turn first to lawsuits, like so many people in this country do.

Were they treated unfairly? Maybe. I can't vouch for what the website did or did not say during their application, but they admit that they did it online "because it was easier than driving to a bank". Even if they don't remember being told the interest rate was 59%, they don't say that they were told it was something else, so to accept the terms of any loan without knowing the interest rate is a poor idea.

Bottom line? The lender was being shady, the borrowers were being lazy - without more specific knowledge, it's hard to judge who's more at fault, but both appear to have exercised poor judgement.

@GothamGal: While I'm all for taking personal responsibility, it is NOT true that "all you have to do is show up to learn." Special education in the US is a mess and many methods used are largely ineffective. Back when the couple in question went to school, things were even worse. It was only a short time ago there was no such thing as a "learning disability," "dyslexia," or anything else. Student would all simply be taught in the same standardized way, and if they didn't get it, too bad. Well, a sure sign of stupidity is doing something over and over and expecting different results - which is what the system did to these children when they expected them to not fail that way. We know now that kids learn in different ways - some people learn best by hearing, some by doing, and so on. Without any effective supports in place, I'm not surprised that many people in this country can't read.

@pecan 3.14159265: I often wonder why you haven't been given a "star commenter" designation yet.

I grew up in an incredibly rural and poor area. Being functionally illiterate is the norm for my family. There's a disturbing trend towards gaining (or lacking) the same level of education depending on who you live around. I've been all but disowned by most of my family for "thinkin' I'm smarter 'n them" and being in graduate school, because most of my family never made it through 9th grade. I can't say the vitriol surprises me, but it's a little more painful when you've lived around the people that the hate is getting slung at. Do I understand it? Yes. Do I still think it sucks? Absolutely.

@GothamGal: Unfortunately, some people fall through the cracks. Some people just never quite understand how much better life would be if they just tried a little. And some people are stuck in this neverending cycle, where their parents are damn proud of being who they are, and education isn't nearly as important. I've seen it, and it's quite sad. The first step is to acknowledge that you would be better off with an education, and that whether your parents agree or not, you should go to school and do a good job. Some people never get to this step.

@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: Tennessee really isn't that bad...sort of. I love Nashville, but I've never been in the rural areas.

@Skankingmike: "I'm supose to feel bad that people that live in a country that GIVES EDUCATION FOR FREE!!!!!!"

"Free" doesn't mean "good." There was a study a few years ago showing some appalling percentage of teachers in Texas were functionally illiterate. ("appalling" being "more than 0.") One of my uncles had an illiterate teacher in first and second grade ... in a high-paying private school back in the day. Look at the literacy rates for any major urban districts in the U.S. ... student literacy is a serious an ongoing problem, and there isn't the funding to fix it in many places.

Are you a troll are are you truly ignorant of the problems with education in the U.S.? Because your ignorance of community issues that don't directly affect you is nearly as appalling an educational lack as an inability to read.

@Saboth: Thats hilarious. Hey any chance you can show me how black people drive?

@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: Where are you from, mister uninformed? Why do you automatically assume that TN = uneducated?

You are a person with a cartoon character as your avatar, what makes you so knowledgeable on the quality of people in other states?

Did you watch "In The Heat of The Night" as a youngster and freeze your view there? Was it Petticoat Junction?

Please, fill us in on your background, so that we can be illuminated by your pearls of wisdom.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's that you're some douche who can't think of a good joke other than taking your screen name from an episode of the Simpsons. A moderately funny episode, at best.

(Disclosure: I am in Jackson, TN as I type this)